Michael Hirsh talks about ‘Animation Nation’

Welcome to the True North Country Comics Podcast — dedicated to celebrate Canadian comic book and graphic novel creators and supporters.

On this episode, I chat with Michael Hirsh about his auto-bio book Animation Nation from Sutherland House Publishing.

Michael Hirsh is a Belgian-born Canadian animation producer, TV executive, entrepreneur, and author. He has been attributed to building from the ground up the Canadian animation industry and, more specifically, award-winning children’s programming since the 1980s.  He co-founded Nelvana, a Canadian based animation and entertainment studio in 1971 with partners Patrick Loubert and previous podcast guest Clive A. Smith producing numerous cartoons that established Nelvana as a leader in the industry including Little Bear, Franklin, Babar, Max & Ruby, The Magic School Bus, Care Bears, The Adventures of Tintin, Inspector Gadget, Droids and Ewoks, among many, many others. After Corus Entertainment’s acquisition of Nelvana, Michael continued work in the animation industry as CEO of Cookie Jar Group, eventually acquired by DHX Media (now WildBrain), and then went on to be CEO and chairman of WOW! Unlimited Media until December 2023.

Animation Nation: How We Built A Cartoon Empire outlines how Michael and his various teams became the driving force behind Canada’s animation dominance. Animation Nation is his behind-the-scenes account of working with such famous cartoon franchises as Babar, The Adventures of Tintin, The Berenstain Bears, Franklin, The Magic School Bus, and Beetlejuice, and larger-than-life personalities including Roseanne Barr, Mr. T., Deborah Harry, and Tim Burton. Packed with humour and hard-won wisdom, Animation Nation is a frame-by-frame account of how creative talent and entrepreneurial zeal built a global cartoon empire.

You can discover more about Michael Hirsh on Instagram at @michaelhirshanimation

You can discover more about Animation Nation from Sutherland House here

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